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Come Out Tonight
You may have read newspaper reports of zombiish behavior in people who have taken the sleeping drug called Ambien. These people get up in the middle of the night to walk, eat, and drive cars in their sleep. The next day they sometimes find themselves in jail and have no memory of what they had done. And have you heard, as well, of the patients who wake up after years in a vegetative state - ten minutes after they’ve been given Ambien? COME OUT TONIGHT is a gripping psychological thriller inspired by these reports.
- GenresFiction
237 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 11, 2011
2 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Bonnie Rozanski
10 books6 followersBonnie is an author and prize-winning playwright currently living in New Jersey. Born in Queens, New York, she has lived in Hong Kong, Canada, and all over the US. With degrees in Psychology and Artificial Intelligence, always fascinated by the human mind, Bonnie writes on matters touching on consciousness and the human condition.
BANANA KISS, Bonnie's debut novel, told from the point of view of a young schizophrenic girl, came out to excellent reviews in 2005. To the many who ask whether the author is writing from experience, Bonnie says, "Not at all. BANANA KISS is based entirely on the application of imagination to months of research on schizophrenia and quantum theory." "On the other hand," she adds after a pause, "I did hear Robin's voice."
Her second novel, BORDERLINE, was a YA finalist at the 2007 Foreword Book of the Year, as well as a silver medalist at that year's Independent Publisher Books awards. Bonnie has several other equally wonderful manuscripts in the wings, awaiting the perspicacious publisher who recognizes their brilliance.
BANANA KISS, Bonnie's debut novel, told from the point of view of a young schizophrenic girl, came out to excellent reviews in 2005. To the many who ask whether the author is writing from experience, Bonnie says, "Not at all. BANANA KISS is based entirely on the application of imagination to months of research on schizophrenia and quantum theory." "On the other hand," she adds after a pause, "I did hear Robin's voice."
Her second novel, BORDERLINE, was a YA finalist at the 2007 Foreword Book of the Year, as well as a silver medalist at that year's Independent Publisher Books awards. Bonnie has several other equally wonderful manuscripts in the wings, awaiting the perspicacious publisher who recognizes their brilliance.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 4, 2014
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Publisher: Biting Duck
Publishing Date: August 2015
ISBN: 9781938463228
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 2.4/5
Publisher Description: Sherry Pollack is a brilliant scientist working for a high-pressure translational medical research lab, where she has helped bring to market a new sleep aid called Somnolux. All of that is destroyed when she is assaulted and left in a persistent vegetative state. Her loving boyfriend and the detective assigned to the case both struggle to find her assailant and to bring Sherry back. Their research leads them to an array of unlikely suspects and to increasingly worrying discoveries about Somnolux. The surprise ending may make you wish you could never sleep again.
Review: Henry has a girl (Sherry) he loves and wakes one morning to find her bludgeoned in his living room and near death. What follows is a slow whodunit reveal that is unnecessary as anyone can figure out what is going on. The only surprising element to the story is Sherry’s true involvement in the Somnolux development and testing.
The writing was very good and the story, while predictable, was fairly inventive. The narrative was told from two perspectives, a female detective and Henry. These characters and others just failed to pull me into the story by capturing my attention/emotions. Henry comes off as extremely self-centered yet runs around proclaiming his love and devotion to Sherry. There is no movement within the story line that embodies both the development of the characters and their eventual burgeoning personas. There are clipped instances of emotive outbursts or internalizations that are supposed to reveal specific characterizations. What you get are one dimensional representations in a short period of time.
Publisher: Biting Duck
Publishing Date: August 2015
ISBN: 9781938463228
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 2.4/5
Publisher Description: Sherry Pollack is a brilliant scientist working for a high-pressure translational medical research lab, where she has helped bring to market a new sleep aid called Somnolux. All of that is destroyed when she is assaulted and left in a persistent vegetative state. Her loving boyfriend and the detective assigned to the case both struggle to find her assailant and to bring Sherry back. Their research leads them to an array of unlikely suspects and to increasingly worrying discoveries about Somnolux. The surprise ending may make you wish you could never sleep again.
Review: Henry has a girl (Sherry) he loves and wakes one morning to find her bludgeoned in his living room and near death. What follows is a slow whodunit reveal that is unnecessary as anyone can figure out what is going on. The only surprising element to the story is Sherry’s true involvement in the Somnolux development and testing.
The writing was very good and the story, while predictable, was fairly inventive. The narrative was told from two perspectives, a female detective and Henry. These characters and others just failed to pull me into the story by capturing my attention/emotions. Henry comes off as extremely self-centered yet runs around proclaiming his love and devotion to Sherry. There is no movement within the story line that embodies both the development of the characters and their eventual burgeoning personas. There are clipped instances of emotive outbursts or internalizations that are supposed to reveal specific characterizations. What you get are one dimensional representations in a short period of time.
September 6, 2015
A riveting, high-concept medical thriller with an eye and ear for New York ambience that rivals E.L. Doctorow's, except COME OUT TONIGHT is quintessentially 21st century. Bonnie Rozanski will have you wondering, laughing, cajoling your brain for answers until the final page
January 15, 2015
Anyone remember the old detective Eliot Ness wearing a gabardine belted mac and a trilby hat, in the Untouchables. The straight-shooter who believes that the law, whether good or bad, is paramount ? Well, this book reminds me of that but totally up-to-date! Love it, love it, love it. If you are too young to know who I am talking about don’t worry you will get the sardonic style as you read it.
This book was so complex and exciting I hung on every word and hadn’t a real clue right until the end. This is a; who killed who with a cast of several characters to choose from, and I switched back and fore like a child in a sweetshop!
Written with the two main characters point of view, Henry Jackman and Detective Donna Sirken, for me it worked extremely well.
Henry is mild mannered wishing he was somebody, Sherry his girlfriend was an intelligent somebody who gets attacked in Henry’s apartment. Somehow Henry seems to get most things wrong but tries so hard to find out who attacked her and why. Here is where it gets really interesting. When other characters come into play the intricacies double. Behind the facade of murders and attacks there are seemingly totally unrelated undercurrents of behaviour.
Rozanski, gives the reader a hint of marrying everything together with crafty wink, the journey wonderfully compelling and the destination satisfactorily rewarding.
Henry so determined to do his own investigations into the attack on his girlfriend he drives Detective Donna Sirken mad with each theory he comes up with. This is a book that explores how consciousness works, our waking selves vs our sleeping selves. Henry sleepwalks and you guess that he gets up to all sorts of things during the night, but that doesn’t really help you what is going on.
There are real depths to the characters which questions how well you know people. The seemingly mild mannered man in Henry, and the single minded Donna as a detective but a pushover in her private life. Henry’s austere parents, the friend who offers comfort; well I never guessed that! The more Henry accuses others of being of not behaving honestly, the more bizarre his own behaviour becomes which is a nice touch throughout the novel. Each crime is seemingly fathomable but there still appears no real reason or perpetrator to pin them.
I just have to give you a taste of this entertaining book, here is Henry on one of his investigative missions:
Doesn’t that just conjure up the most descriptive picture in your mind?
Okay, now for the bit that did not work for me:
Toward the end one chapter gives Henry's point of view of events, then the next chapter Donna gives hers regarding the same events but there is virtually no difference in the two accounts which made it feel like it was simply repeated.
But the main thing for me is this: this appears to be classified as SCI FI genre, but in my opinion that is a misnomer. If you are looking for a great SCI FI then you will be disappointed. However, if you are looking for a quirky Crime/Suspense Thriller then you will NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Many thanks to Biting Duck Press for an ARC via NetGalley.
This book was so complex and exciting I hung on every word and hadn’t a real clue right until the end. This is a; who killed who with a cast of several characters to choose from, and I switched back and fore like a child in a sweetshop!
Written with the two main characters point of view, Henry Jackman and Detective Donna Sirken, for me it worked extremely well.
Henry is mild mannered wishing he was somebody, Sherry his girlfriend was an intelligent somebody who gets attacked in Henry’s apartment. Somehow Henry seems to get most things wrong but tries so hard to find out who attacked her and why. Here is where it gets really interesting. When other characters come into play the intricacies double. Behind the facade of murders and attacks there are seemingly totally unrelated undercurrents of behaviour.
Rozanski, gives the reader a hint of marrying everything together with crafty wink, the journey wonderfully compelling and the destination satisfactorily rewarding.
Henry so determined to do his own investigations into the attack on his girlfriend he drives Detective Donna Sirken mad with each theory he comes up with. This is a book that explores how consciousness works, our waking selves vs our sleeping selves. Henry sleepwalks and you guess that he gets up to all sorts of things during the night, but that doesn’t really help you what is going on.
There are real depths to the characters which questions how well you know people. The seemingly mild mannered man in Henry, and the single minded Donna as a detective but a pushover in her private life. Henry’s austere parents, the friend who offers comfort; well I never guessed that! The more Henry accuses others of being of not behaving honestly, the more bizarre his own behaviour becomes which is a nice touch throughout the novel. Each crime is seemingly fathomable but there still appears no real reason or perpetrator to pin them.
I just have to give you a taste of this entertaining book, here is Henry on one of his investigative missions:
“A hundred and fifty commuters were waiting for the shuttle by the time it rolled in, in its usual lackadaisical way. A hundred and fifty New Yorkers pawing at the ground, stamping and snorting and ready to bolt onboard the moment the car opened its doors, on guard to jump into the first available seats. Me, I don’t bother. It’s only a short ride to Grand Central; and the sardine crush of people keeps you upright even if there’s nothing to hold onto.”
Doesn’t that just conjure up the most descriptive picture in your mind?
Okay, now for the bit that did not work for me:
Toward the end one chapter gives Henry's point of view of events, then the next chapter Donna gives hers regarding the same events but there is virtually no difference in the two accounts which made it feel like it was simply repeated.
But the main thing for me is this: this appears to be classified as SCI FI genre, but in my opinion that is a misnomer. If you are looking for a great SCI FI then you will be disappointed. However, if you are looking for a quirky Crime/Suspense Thriller then you will NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Many thanks to Biting Duck Press for an ARC via NetGalley.
April 10, 2015
I received a review copy through NetGalley
Sherry Pollack is an accomplished woman. A brilliant young researcher, with a multi-millionaire patent already under her belt. But none of that saved her from the vicious attack that sent her in a coma.
Detective Donna Sirken is to shed light on the matter, juggling work overload, bad partner decisions, and rumours about Somnolux, the drug Sherry developed, that some would rather had not been spread...
Oh, and Henry, Sherry’s concerned and overbearing boyfriend, always spurring on investigations, despite naturally being on top of the suspects’ list.
While I enjoy mysteries, I don’t read them very often, because most of the times I just can’t bring myself to care about the premises. And here is one whose premise genuinely intrigued me, but which fell flat on all points.
The main issue I had with this book is that, once you’ve read the premise, you could avoid picking it up. I guessed the entire plot before I was a third of the way in. I kept waiting for a twist, which never came (unless you count an infodump in the very last chapter. I don’t and neither should you).
It was so frustrating! There were so many chances to widen the plot beyond the investigation of Sherry’s attack. Hell, the terrible last chapter proves the author had ideas to do so. But didn’t. So we’re left with regularly alternating chapters from Donna and Henry’s points of view, following a plot we didn’t even really need to guess. No mystery at all. If it wasn’t just 200 pages I might have dropped it even if it was for review. I’m not saying it would have been a perfect book if they’d made the plot decent, because pretty much everything else is a mess too, as it stands.
I know that some people (not me, I must admit), enjoy mystery novels where there isn’t much mystery, just for the police procedures. I’m afraid there aren’t any described here. There are maybe a couple of mentions, all of them rather inconsistent and so minor you can’t even really gauge if they have any degree of accuracy.
Maybe it would have even been enough to fix the pacing to get this two stars. It just needed to expand on what is revealed in the last chapter, slash some parts of the already existing ones, and especially axe the whole subplot with Julian.
Seriously, that was just so completely useless and offputting. I guess it was added to give Donna depth, since we don’t see anyone else she’s close with, but if possible it only made her even more of a cliché (and I mean it in the worst possible sense).
The characters were pretty much stock, from the protagonists down to the lowliest extra. If they were part of any kind of minority, they were also almost guaranteed to be borderline offensive stereotypes.
The only thing that was done decently was differentiating the two main characters’ narration styles (they still had styles stereotypical for their respective character cliches, but they were at least a tiny bit different).
Henry’s actions were also super illogical and, in my opinion, a bit out of character. Some really felt put in just to lengthen the investigation.
The writing style was not amazing, but it didn’t make me want to scratch my eyes out, so that’s positive, I guess? Still on the lower end of the rating scale though.
So, in short, it was impossible to form any emotional connection for the characters, the writing was not good enough to sustain the book by itself, there was no mystery at all.
Oh, and the author can’t calculate time/month differences even when they’re plot relevant, which is really minor and unimportant but is also a giant pet-peeve of mine.
Sherry Pollack is an accomplished woman. A brilliant young researcher, with a multi-millionaire patent already under her belt. But none of that saved her from the vicious attack that sent her in a coma.
Detective Donna Sirken is to shed light on the matter, juggling work overload, bad partner decisions, and rumours about Somnolux, the drug Sherry developed, that some would rather had not been spread...
Oh, and Henry, Sherry’s concerned and overbearing boyfriend, always spurring on investigations, despite naturally being on top of the suspects’ list.
While I enjoy mysteries, I don’t read them very often, because most of the times I just can’t bring myself to care about the premises. And here is one whose premise genuinely intrigued me, but which fell flat on all points.
The main issue I had with this book is that, once you’ve read the premise, you could avoid picking it up. I guessed the entire plot before I was a third of the way in. I kept waiting for a twist, which never came (unless you count an infodump in the very last chapter. I don’t and neither should you).
It was so frustrating! There were so many chances to widen the plot beyond the investigation of Sherry’s attack. Hell, the terrible last chapter proves the author had ideas to do so. But didn’t. So we’re left with regularly alternating chapters from Donna and Henry’s points of view, following a plot we didn’t even really need to guess. No mystery at all. If it wasn’t just 200 pages I might have dropped it even if it was for review. I’m not saying it would have been a perfect book if they’d made the plot decent, because pretty much everything else is a mess too, as it stands.
I know that some people (not me, I must admit), enjoy mystery novels where there isn’t much mystery, just for the police procedures. I’m afraid there aren’t any described here. There are maybe a couple of mentions, all of them rather inconsistent and so minor you can’t even really gauge if they have any degree of accuracy.
Maybe it would have even been enough to fix the pacing to get this two stars. It just needed to expand on what is revealed in the last chapter, slash some parts of the already existing ones, and especially axe the whole subplot with Julian.
Seriously, that was just so completely useless and offputting. I guess it was added to give Donna depth, since we don’t see anyone else she’s close with, but if possible it only made her even more of a cliché (and I mean it in the worst possible sense).
The characters were pretty much stock, from the protagonists down to the lowliest extra. If they were part of any kind of minority, they were also almost guaranteed to be borderline offensive stereotypes.
The only thing that was done decently was differentiating the two main characters’ narration styles (they still had styles stereotypical for their respective character cliches, but they were at least a tiny bit different).
Henry’s actions were also super illogical and, in my opinion, a bit out of character. Some really felt put in just to lengthen the investigation.
The writing style was not amazing, but it didn’t make me want to scratch my eyes out, so that’s positive, I guess? Still on the lower end of the rating scale though.
So, in short, it was impossible to form any emotional connection for the characters, the writing was not good enough to sustain the book by itself, there was no mystery at all.
Oh, and the author can’t calculate time/month differences even when they’re plot relevant, which is really minor and unimportant but is also a giant pet-peeve of mine.
February 12, 2013
Taken form my Amazon review:
FULL DISCLOSURE: I received this book for free during promotional sale.
Allow me to send half of the potential readers packing right now: "Come Out Tonight" is written in first person. I know this turns a lot of people off, and I'm sure that they're not even reading this anymore, so we move on to why first person can turn people off: The author has the occasional trouble grappling with "voice". Though I respect the growth of the characters over the course of the book, they sometimes speak slightly out of character - and I was never entirely sure who they were narrating to. There was a "you've gotta believe me" once or twice, and I never knew who the "you" was. Was it me?
That aside, the first person narrative was important, because this novel distinctly requires getting into the headspace of the characters, and I think Ms. Rozanski accomplished that with aplomb. Her greatest triumph may have been truly making her characters believable - protagonists, not heroes. "Good guys" and "bad guys" make for weak stories in a day and age where complexity is a common requirement, and the author really stepped up to the plate.
Now, without giving away too much of the plot, I can say that the ending was in equal parts brilliant and maddening: Some portions of the end were genius, others, I felt, were weakly contrived. Fortunately, the journey was quite compelling (which is what really pushed this review from 3 to 4 stars). The story is about a mystery, but is not a mystery in itself - it truly is about how the ending is reached, rather than what the ending is. If you're looking for a proper "whodunit" though, this isn't it.
There are definitely a few elements of science fiction in "Come Out Tonight", but Rozanski avoids most of the technobabble, and the higher level words she does use are explained quite clearly and succinctly, which is much appreciated. I have very little science background, but was able to follow the ideas expressed without trouble.
The alternating perspectives (the story is told by two people) was both helpful and problematic. At times, having two voices provided added insight, information, and perspective. Occasionally however, it created for skippable, redundant scenes. Another round of editing would have done this book a good turn - aside from the small aforementioned issues, there was the occasional mechanical problem as well, though nothing that really got in the way.
Conclusion: Certainly a page-turner, and "Come Out Tonight" presents some exciting new ideas. It's not successful on every count, but it's definitely worth the read.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I received this book for free during promotional sale.
Allow me to send half of the potential readers packing right now: "Come Out Tonight" is written in first person. I know this turns a lot of people off, and I'm sure that they're not even reading this anymore, so we move on to why first person can turn people off: The author has the occasional trouble grappling with "voice". Though I respect the growth of the characters over the course of the book, they sometimes speak slightly out of character - and I was never entirely sure who they were narrating to. There was a "you've gotta believe me" once or twice, and I never knew who the "you" was. Was it me?
That aside, the first person narrative was important, because this novel distinctly requires getting into the headspace of the characters, and I think Ms. Rozanski accomplished that with aplomb. Her greatest triumph may have been truly making her characters believable - protagonists, not heroes. "Good guys" and "bad guys" make for weak stories in a day and age where complexity is a common requirement, and the author really stepped up to the plate.
Now, without giving away too much of the plot, I can say that the ending was in equal parts brilliant and maddening: Some portions of the end were genius, others, I felt, were weakly contrived. Fortunately, the journey was quite compelling (which is what really pushed this review from 3 to 4 stars). The story is about a mystery, but is not a mystery in itself - it truly is about how the ending is reached, rather than what the ending is. If you're looking for a proper "whodunit" though, this isn't it.
There are definitely a few elements of science fiction in "Come Out Tonight", but Rozanski avoids most of the technobabble, and the higher level words she does use are explained quite clearly and succinctly, which is much appreciated. I have very little science background, but was able to follow the ideas expressed without trouble.
The alternating perspectives (the story is told by two people) was both helpful and problematic. At times, having two voices provided added insight, information, and perspective. Occasionally however, it created for skippable, redundant scenes. Another round of editing would have done this book a good turn - aside from the small aforementioned issues, there was the occasional mechanical problem as well, though nothing that really got in the way.
Conclusion: Certainly a page-turner, and "Come Out Tonight" presents some exciting new ideas. It's not successful on every count, but it's definitely worth the read.
June 3, 2012
Though I don't sleep walk, my children have been known to. In fact when my oldest daughter was around 7 we had to install adult head height chain locks because she would often try to sleepwalk out through the front door. Luckily I am both an insomniac and a light sleeper so she never got far.
Rozanski's novel, Come Out Tonight, explores the darker side of somnambulism, inspired by the Ambien scandal. Pharmacist assistant, Henry Jackman is horrified when he discovers his lover, Sherry, beaten almost to death in his lounge room. He insists he heard nothing of the attack, having taken Somnolux, a new-generation drug developed by Sherry, to help him sleep. Detective Second Grade, Donna Sirken has trouble believing Henry's story but the evidence is inconclusive, her only real lead lies comatose in a persistent vegetative state, and the investigation stalls...until Sherry wakes up.
I liked the premise of Come Out Tonight, essentially the story involves a drug with strange side effects, a company hiding said side effects and an innocent man caught in the middle. The plot is fairly predictable, though Rozanski does a fair job of creating alternate suspects to maintain suspense, and the story is supported by a number of small subplots that add interest overall. I'm not sure the ending needed to be quite as sensational as the author chose to make it but it works in context.
Henry isn't a particularly likeable protagonist, and though his confusion and fear seem genuine at times, had he been nicer I would have felt more sympathy for him. I liked Donna, despite her world weary cynicism but felt she could have been a more active character.
Come Out Tonight is told from the alternating points of view of Henry and Donna. While I think its quite an effective way to tell the story I did have some issues with it. I didn't feel their voices were distinct enough from each other and at times the overlap in perspective was too close.
Come Out Tonight has a great concept unfortunately hampered by fairly ordinary execution. It's a fairly easy read though, being reasonably short, so if the premise appeals its worth taking a chance on.
December 7, 2014
I received an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Biting Duck Press!
Well, this was certainly unexpected... Come Out Tonight is full of twists and surprises. It tells the story from two different points of view, Henry Jackman, an unreliable narrator who may or may not be losing his mind as a result of his dependency on a sleeping medication, and Donna Sirken, the NYPD Detective assigned to find out who attacked Henry's girlfriend, the developer of said sleeping drug. I kept theorizing about what was going on, and I only got one thing right, the rest of the twists were surprising. Unlikeable characters seemed different once their actions were properly explained, and some nice guys ended up being much less so. I loved the humor in both the character's narratives. And it reminded me of living in NY some years back. The descriptions of subway etiquette had me laughing out loud. I also liked how Donna was far from the perfect cop that we are used to seeing on TV. Yes, she wants to solve the case, but she has many other cases and no resources. The part I liked the least was the final confrontation between the characters. At first it was interesting seeing how their recollections of their interactions differed so much, but the last part was a little repetitive, since the unreliability of the characters' memories doesn't apply when you see the action on videotape. Knowing that the author got the idea for this novel from accounts of people sleepwalking, eating and driving while on sleeping medications, I am glad I don't suffer insomnia! In any case, if you do, don't pick up Come Out Tonight, it will just keep you up all night reading.
Well, this was certainly unexpected... Come Out Tonight is full of twists and surprises. It tells the story from two different points of view, Henry Jackman, an unreliable narrator who may or may not be losing his mind as a result of his dependency on a sleeping medication, and Donna Sirken, the NYPD Detective assigned to find out who attacked Henry's girlfriend, the developer of said sleeping drug. I kept theorizing about what was going on, and I only got one thing right, the rest of the twists were surprising. Unlikeable characters seemed different once their actions were properly explained, and some nice guys ended up being much less so. I loved the humor in both the character's narratives. And it reminded me of living in NY some years back. The descriptions of subway etiquette had me laughing out loud. I also liked how Donna was far from the perfect cop that we are used to seeing on TV. Yes, she wants to solve the case, but she has many other cases and no resources. The part I liked the least was the final confrontation between the characters. At first it was interesting seeing how their recollections of their interactions differed so much, but the last part was a little repetitive, since the unreliability of the characters' memories doesn't apply when you see the action on videotape. Knowing that the author got the idea for this novel from accounts of people sleepwalking, eating and driving while on sleeping medications, I am glad I don't suffer insomnia! In any case, if you do, don't pick up Come Out Tonight, it will just keep you up all night reading.
October 24, 2011
Come Out Tonight is written from the perspective of two characters, Henry and Donna. Henry is a pretty common guy, working at a small pharmacy, not spectacular looking, in love with Sherry, who comes to his apartment in the middle of the night and has a fancy schmancy job at a not for profit company that invents new drugs. Donna is an investigator who gets the case of who hurt Sherry in Henry's apartment, leaving her in a coma state. Lots of things don't add up as to why Henry didn't hear anything when Sherry was attacked and then a couple more people turn up dead. Strange things begin happening when Henry starts taking Somnolux, the drug that Sherry invented to help aid sleep, such as waking up in different clothes, finding food eaten, and finding a medicine cabinet full of Somnolux, after the drug store was robbed.
This read was good, some grammar and spelling errors. I enjoyed the story and plot, what I didn't care for too much was the repetition between Henry and Donna's chapters. I think there could of been more depth in Donna's chapters instead of re-reading what had already happened and was described in Henry's chapters.
I LOVED the ending. After thinking through most of the book that I had the "bad guy" figured out I was taken completely off guard by the last few chapters and I love when a book gets me like that. Different than anything I had red before Come Out Tonight is worth the read!
This read was good, some grammar and spelling errors. I enjoyed the story and plot, what I didn't care for too much was the repetition between Henry and Donna's chapters. I think there could of been more depth in Donna's chapters instead of re-reading what had already happened and was described in Henry's chapters.
I LOVED the ending. After thinking through most of the book that I had the "bad guy" figured out I was taken completely off guard by the last few chapters and I love when a book gets me like that. Different than anything I had red before Come Out Tonight is worth the read!
October 30, 2011
Reading a book by a new author is rather like shooting a shotgun. Some of the pellets are going to hit the target, some of them are going to go wide. Very wide.
The premise is good ... a researcher specializing in a new non-narcotic sleeping medication is brutally attacked while her nebbish boyfriend sleeps in the next room ... This all happens within the first couple of pages, so I'm not letting any cats out of any bags.
The story is told by switching POV between the boyfriend and the detective assigned to the case. There is some overlap in these views, so the book ends up being longer than it needs to be. And there's a section where the overlay is close to word for word.
The resolution does take a direction I didn't quite expect, but one that barely enhances the story as a whole.
I did have some challenges negotiating the dialog with Henry's parents ... we know people from the Bronx sound like that, I don't think the phonetic spelling was strictly helpful, actually it took me out of the story as I tried to puzzle it out. And the Starbucks rant is great for a blog posting, but is another element that pulls the reader out of the story. Ditto for the relationship issues subplot ... I couldn't figure out why it was included.
I do hope to read more as Ms. Rozanski hones her craft.
The premise is good ... a researcher specializing in a new non-narcotic sleeping medication is brutally attacked while her nebbish boyfriend sleeps in the next room ... This all happens within the first couple of pages, so I'm not letting any cats out of any bags.
The story is told by switching POV between the boyfriend and the detective assigned to the case. There is some overlap in these views, so the book ends up being longer than it needs to be. And there's a section where the overlay is close to word for word.
The resolution does take a direction I didn't quite expect, but one that barely enhances the story as a whole.
I did have some challenges negotiating the dialog with Henry's parents ... we know people from the Bronx sound like that, I don't think the phonetic spelling was strictly helpful, actually it took me out of the story as I tried to puzzle it out. And the Starbucks rant is great for a blog posting, but is another element that pulls the reader out of the story. Ditto for the relationship issues subplot ... I couldn't figure out why it was included.
I do hope to read more as Ms. Rozanski hones her craft.
October 7, 2012
COME OUT TONIGHT was written from two perspectives, Henry Jackman and Donna Sirken. Henry woke up to find his girlfriend lying on the floor, covered in blood, he was not sure what happened. Donna was the detective assigned to the case. She found Henry’s story unbelievable. I was definitely hooked from the beginning but I did find it predictable at times. The characters were engaging and there was a few twists which kept the suspense going. Ms Rozanski definitely did her research on the workings of the mind which definitely helped to make the story overall believable and the ending did tie all the clues together. If you are a fan of mystery/suspense thriller, this would be a must read. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Rozanski’s work.
Rating: 4
Reviewed by: KellyR
Received from the publisher for an honest review by MY BOOK ADDICTION AND MORE
Rating: 4
Reviewed by: KellyR
Received from the publisher for an honest review by MY BOOK ADDICTION AND MORE
December 3, 2011
This was an intense story that hooked me before I even opened the book. Bonnie's description discussed current events where real people in real life have woken up in jail after having taken the drug Ambien to help them sleep. I was fascinated about the possibilities with the topic and eagerly entered the world Bonnie set up with such care. From the first paragraph, I figured out where the story would probably go, but I didn't see where the victim fit into the story. Bonnie handled the topic with skill. I would have rated Bonnie's story 5 stars except for the explicit sex and swearing. For anyone who doesn't mind those in their reading, I'm sure they'll find this a thrilling read.
January 23, 2012
When I first read the description I thought that this could be a good mystery. I did not expect such a well written and thought out story. The book gets into details that obviously required a great deal of research. The characters are well-rounded and seem very real. I liked the way that both main characters were able to tell the story through their own points of view in opposite chapters. While sometimes this may confuse readers, the voices of both Henry and Donna are unique so there should be no problem trying to follow who is telling the story at any time. I think that this is a great book for all who love a well-written thriller or mystery!
April 20, 2012
This was a good story. Had a good idea who was at fault from the beginning, but enough twists throughout and at the end to make you think of some other possible endings as you read. Would have liked a little less of the double story telling from both sides. Didn't think there was a need for much of it.
June 25, 2018
The author has borrowed Robert Louis Stevenson's famous story, transferring Henry to present day New York. This does rather remove the suspense. The tale is stretched out to a fairly unsatisfying ending.
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